Glenn Dyer’s TV ratings: it’s a wasteland on the box

Nothing over a million viewers and the top six programs were news and current affairs, which tells us that viewers found nothing of real interest last night.

The Glenn Dyer breakdown: Not a program with a million or more metro viewers last night and that tells us that it was a miserable night for TV viewing, and tonight won’t be better expect for the fresh episode of New Tricks on ABC1.

Viewing of pay TV and the free to air digital channels topped 43% of the audience last night — yet another sign of the way viewers will abandon the main channels and search for something new or old and trusted. But 82% of the audience remained with the networks via the main channels and the 15 digital channels.

The final Redfern Now at 8.30pm on ABC1 delivered 603,000 metro and 919,000 national viewers. That was enough to win the 8.30pm time slot and was also the third most-watched non-news program on the night in metro markets and the second nationally after Seven’s Once Upon A Time (610,000 metro, 1.028 million nationally). Seven’s broadcast of the Australian Open golf from noon to 5pm averaged 103,000 metro and 177,000 national viewers.

Tonight: The first weekend of Zombie Summer TV viewing. Nine repeats Lord of The Rings at 8.30pm, after repeats of Big Bang and Two and a Half Men. Seven has Better Homes at 7pm, and then the now-tired movie The Santa Clause. Ten has The Living Room and then two episodes of Burn Notice. ABC1 has a fresh New Tricks at 8.30pm and a repeat of Waking The Dead. Entertainment for the night will be provided by Fox Sports’ broadcast of the Big Bash from 7pm (FS2). That continues off and on for the next couple of weeks.

Saturday: Double Bond repeats on Seven (including Dr No). Nine has four movies in a row. Ten has the usual mix of wildlife/animal stuff and then Graham Norton. ABC1 has the Young James Herriot, then the repeat of Upstairs Downstairs. There’s also a Silent Witness repeat.

Sunday: ABC1 avoid, Seven has the summer edition of Sunday Night. Nine has 60 Minutes. Ten has fresh episodes of Merlin and Homeland, then Vegas. The first Test against Sri Lanka starts late next week, so hang on, relief is coming! And the 2013 football seasons are closer than they were last week!

The top 10 national programs (metro & regional combined):

Seven News — 1.438 million.

Nine News — 1.410 million.

7pm ABC1 News — 1.237 million.

Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.187 million.

A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.157 million.

7.30 (ABC1) — 1.150 million.

Once Upon A Time (Seven) — 1.028 million.

Redfern Now (ABC1) — 919,000.

Better Homes and Gardens (Seven) — 904,000.

Getaway Summer (Nine) — 855,000.

The Metro Winners: Nothing over a million viewers and looking at the list below, the top six programs were news and current affairs, which tells us that viewers found nothing of real interest last night. Better Homes and Gardens at 7pm on Seven was the most watched non-news program with 637,000 viewers, followed by Once Upon A Time with 610,000 and Redfern Now with 603,000..

The Losers: Anybody watching TV last night (the main channels especially). What a wasteland, except for the final episodes of Redfern Now.

Metro FTA: Seven (three channels) won with a share of 28.5%, from Nine (three) on 25.5%, the ABC (four) ended on 20.6%, Ten (three) was on 18.8% and SBS (two) ended on 6.4%. Seven has a narrow lead over Nine, 27.6% to 27.1%. Ten is on 20.6%, the ABC is on 19.2% and SBS, 5.5%. Main Channels: Seven won with a share of 19.0%, from Nine on 16.9%, ABC1 was on 14.5% and Ten on 12.1%, with SBS ONE on 5.3%. Seven now leads the week narrowly, 19.5% to Nine’s 19.3%. Ten is on 13.8%, ABC1, 13.5% and SBS ONE ended on 4.4%.

Metro Digital: FO won with a share of 5.9% from 7TWO on 4.9%, 7mate on 4.6%, Eleven on 4.5%, ABC2, 3.2%, Gem, 2.9%, ONE, 2.3%, ABC3, 1.5%, News 24, 1.4% and SBS TWO on 1.2%. The 10 digital channels had a very high FTA share last night of 32.4%. 7mate leads the week with 4.1% from GO on 4.0%, 7TWO on 3.9%, Eleven on 3.8% and Gem on 3.7%.

Metro including pay TV: Seven (three channels) won with a share of 22.7%, from Nine (three) on 20.4%, the ABC (four) ended on 16.4%, Ten (three) was on 15.0% and SBS (two) ended on 5.1%. The 15 FTA channels had a viewing share last night of 82.2% after pay TV’s share of 17.8% (based on the 200 plus channels on Foxtel).

The top five pay TV channels were:

LifeStyle — 3.6%.

Fox8 — 3.1%.

TV 1 — 2.6%.

A&E — 2.1%.

Fox Classics — 2.0%.

The five most-watched programs on pay TV were:

Grand Designs Aust. (LifeStyle) — 173,000.

Hardcore Pawn (A&E) — 81,000.

The Simpsons (Fox8) — 69,000.

River Cottage Christmas (LifeStyle) — 65,000.

Support Your Local Sheriff (Fox Classics) — 63,000.

Regional: Prime/7Qld (three channels) won with a share of 33.9%, from WIN/NBN (three) on 27.1%, the ABC (four) ended on 18.0%, SC Ten (three) was on 15.8% and SBS (two) ended on 5.1%. Prime/7Qld won the main channels with 21.2%, from WIN/NBN on 18.0%%, ABC1 on 12.2% and SC Ten on 9.3%. 7mate won the digitals with 7.5% from GO on 6.0% and 7TWO on 5.2%. The 10 digital channels had a total viewing share last night of an ultra high 33.9%. Prime/7Qld leads the week with 32.2%, from WIN/NBN on 28.5%, Ten is on 17.4% and the ABC is on 17.2%

The five most-watched programs in regional markets were:

Seven News — 518,000.

Nine News — 424,000.

Once Upon A Time — 418,000.

TT — 371,000.

7.30 Summer — 364,000.

Major Metro Markets: Seven won (overall and the main channels) in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. In Sydney Nine won overall, but Seven won the main channels (and the ABC/ABC1 finished third in front of Ten). In Melbourne Seven won overall, but Nine won the main channels (with the ABC/ABC1 third). The ABC/ABC1 were third in Brisbane and Adelaide. In Perth ABC 1 was second in the main channels and Nine third. Overall, Nine was second and Ten third. The digitals were won by GO in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. 7mate won Brisbane. Nine leads the week in Sydney from Seven and the ABC, while in Melbourne its Nine from Seven and Ten. In Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, its Seven from Nine and Ten.

(All shares on the basis of combined overnight 6pm to midnight All People)